CHAPTER IV
Blow-pipes and retorts, crucibles and jars, porcelain and glass vessels, of all odd sorts and shapes, confronted them on tables and shelves, and seated before small furnaces, with gauze protectors for their faces and metal ones for their knees, and queer little rubber gloves for their hands, were the very queerest of all the elves Leo had yet seen. They were thinner and much less muscular than the miners and stone-polishers, with eyes too large and legs too small
for their bodies, so that they resembled nothing so much as spiders.
"See how in the pursuit of the beautiful one can lose all beauty," said Knops, confidentially.
"How hot it is here!" said Leo, gasping for breath.
"Yes, my dear fellow, there's no doubt of that; the heat is tremendous. Now some of your thermometers go no higher than one hundred and thirty, while ours can ascend to three and four hundred; that is, for the common air of our dwellings. Of course the heat demanded by many of our experiments is practically incalculable; for instance—"
"Oh, get me out of this!" entreated Leo.
"Here, step into this niche, put your mouth to this opening"—and Knops pointed to one of many silver tubes which projected near them—"Now breathe. Is not that refreshing?"
"Yes," said Leo, reviving, as he took a long draught of fresh cool air. "How do your people endure such heat?"
"They are used to it; besides, they can come to these little tubes, as you have done, whenever they please."
"Where does this air come from?"
"It is pure oxygen; we manufacture it, and here is a lump of pure carbon which we also manufacture," and he laid in Leo's hand what looked like a drop of dew. It was a diamond of exquisite lustre.
As Leo looked with surprise and admiration at it, an elf came staggering up to the niche. After breathing the oxygen he turned to Knops with a heart-rending cry.
"I have lost it—lost it, Master Knops."
"Lost what, Paz?"
"The finest stone I ever made, and I have been years at it."
"How did that happen?"
"Burned it too long—look!" and he produced in his spidery hand a small mass of charcoal.
"Never mind, Paz; better luck next time," said Knops, kindly.
"No, I am no longer fit for the profession; such a mistake is inexcusable. I cannot hold up my head among the others. I meant that diamond for our King's tiara or the Queen's necklace—bah! Please, Master Professor, put me among the miners, or take me for your valet. I care not what I do."
"You are depressed just now; wait awhile."
"No, I must go. I have broken my crucible and put out my furnace. I will not stay to be scorned."
"Come with me, then, and I will see what I can do for you."
"He may be useful to us," said Knops to Leo, adding, "We never allow these diamonds to be put in the quartz beds; they are all reserved for our own particular uses. It takes so long a time to make them that only elves of great patience and a certain quiet habit of mind are trained to the task. Look!"
He pointed towards what appeared to be a glittering cobweb hanging from a projection on the wall. It was composed of silver wires, on which were strung numbers of small but most exquisite gems, each of which sparkled and flashed with its imprisoned light.
"In the same way," he resumed, "All the pearls we use are of our own cultivation, if I may use the term. We secure the oysters and insert small objects within the shells, generally a seed-pearl of insignificant size, leaving it to be worked upon by the living fish; when enough time for the incrustation has elapsed we find our pearls grown to a remarkable size, of rarest
beauty and value. These processes are not unknown to man, but men are so clumsy that they seldom succeed in perfecting them."
Leo by this time was quite exhausted both by what he had seen and by what he had heard, and he begged Knops to allow him to rest.
"Certainly, certainly, my dear," said Knops. "Pardon me for wearying you. I am more scientific than hospitable. Come to our sleeping apartment. I think I shall allow Paz to see you, for, as he is so unhappy, it will divert him to serve you while you remain with us, and perhaps, too, he can suggest something suitable for your food. I ought to have thought of this before."
Leo had, with three or four bites, disposed of an apple, and had already begun on a turnip, when Knops, giving Paz a peculiar sign, the spidery little fellow reached up and snatched the turnip from Leo's hand.
"What's the matter now?" asked Leo, too tired to regain it, easily as he could have done so.
"I can't see anybody eat such wretched stuff as that; wait till I cook it," said Paz.
"Well, Paz, I am glad you can help me out of my difficulty," said Knops. "I really am
puzzled what to do for Prince Leo's hunger. My breakfast is a wren's egg; for dinner, a sardine with a slice of mushroom is enough for four of us; for supper, a pickled mouse tongue. How long could you live on such fare, Leo?"
"Not long, I fear."
"So I supposed. Well, here is the dormitory; by pushing up a dozen or more beds, you can stretch out awhile. Meanwhile I can attend to some professional duties, after I have despatched Paz for your food. What are you going to do with that turnip, Paz?"
"An elf who can make diamonds from charcoal can perhaps produce beefsteak from a turnip," said Leo.
"Ah! don't remind me of my bitter humiliation, kind sir," said Paz, in a sad tone. "I will do what I can for you. Do you like soup?"
"Immensely."
"And roast quail?"
"Delicious!"
"Apple tart?"
"Nothing better."
"Adieu, then, for an hour."
Knops too departed, leaving Leo to look about him, with curious eyes, upon rows of little beds, each with a scarlet blanket, and each having its pitcher and basin conveniently at hand. But he soon was fast asleep.
While all this was happening to Leo, at the monastery there was great confusion. The servants had gone in a body to Prince Morpheus's bedroom to demand their wages. With tearful eyes and wailing voice he had protested that he had no money, that his life was hanging by a thread, and that his brain was on fire. They loudly urged their claims, declaring they would instantly leave the premises unless they were paid. As they could not get a satisfactory reply from their master, who hid his eyes at the sight of their angry faces, and put his fingers in his ears to keep out their noisy voices, they concluded to go; so, packing their boxes and bags, and pressing the mules and oxen into their service, they one by one went off to the nearest village.
One old woman, who had never known any other home, alone remained, and when the storm
subsided and the house was quiet, Morpheus, being hungry, crawled down to the kitchen fire to find her boiling porridge.
"Where is my son?" asked Morpheus.
The old woman was deaf, and only muttered, "Gone—all gone."
"Alas! and has my son also deserted his father?" cried Morpheus.
The old woman nodded, partly with the palsy, and partly because she knew of nothing to say. Morpheus smote his forehead with a tragic gesture, and allowed himself to fall—gently—upon the floor. When he had remained in an apparent swoon long enough he was revived by some hot porridge being poured down his throat, and his hair and hands sprinkled with vinegar. Rousing himself as if with great effort, but really with great ease, he stood up, and finding the kitchen warmer than his cell, concluded to remain there; but the old woman was too stiff with rheumatism to wait upon him, so he had to ladle out his own portion of porridge, get his books and candle for himself, and finally bring in some fagots for the fire.
When he sat down to study he found himself in a more cheerful mood than he had been in
for many a day, though he could not help wondering what had become of Leo. As he went on thinking where the boy could be he was inspired to write what he called a sonnet upon the subject. Here it is:
"My boy has fled his father's home,
No more he treads these halls;
In vain my voice invokes his name,
In vain my tears, my calls.
The night winds sigh, the owlets cry,
The moon's pale light appears,
The stars are shivering in the sky—
I tremble at my fears.
Has then the Knight of Shadowy Dread
My Leo forced away
From his fond parent's loving heart
In Death's grim halls astray?
I bow reluctant to my fate;
'Tis mine to weep and mine to wait!"
He counted the lines over carefully; the eighth and tenth seemed short, but it scanned after a fashion. On the whole it suited him, and was rather better done than many of his verses, so with soothed nerves he sought his pillow.
The old woman had slumbered all the evening in her chair. Indeed her snoring had been
even and regular enough to act as a measure in marking the time for the musical cadences of the sonnet.
Morpheus, having a pretty good appetite, ate some bread and cheese and drank some ale before retiring.